On the final day of “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 100 2013“, SDN48,who had all 39 members graduated back in March 2012, made a comeback just for the day, as their song “Kodoku na Runner” had ranked in the 18th place on the request hour.

Held at the Tokyo Dome City Hall on January 27th, this marked their
first appearance in 8 months since they had held a revival stage in May.
28 members appeared on the stage and joyfully enjoyed their revival.

It was also announced that SDN48’s special stage would be held at the
AKB48 theater in Akihabara on March 31st. It would be the “alumni
association” that the members promised to their fans when they
graduated. Serina commented, “We will try our best to show our growth after one year.”

On January 27th, popular idol group AKB48 finished their annual 4-day live event “AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 100 2013” held at Tokyo Dome City Hall. This year, the No.1 song that blocked the third consecutive victory of “Heavy Rotation” was team 4’s only original song “Hashire! Penguin.”

Team 4 was the fourth team in AKB48, formed back in June 2011 with the members like Shimazaki Haruka, Shimada Haruka, Iriyama Anna, Kato Rena, and Kawaei Rina, however, the discontinuation of the team 4 was announced with AKB48′ second team shuffle in November of the last year.

Shimazaki said with a smile, “I did not expect that we could perform together again. It’s all thank to everybody. I’m so happy.”, while Shimada said shedding tears, “The happiest thing is that team 4 has not been forgotten after the breakup.”

During the final day of the event, it was also announced that AKB48 would be holding an open-air live concert titled “AKB48 Super Festival”
at Nissan Stadium in June. It will be the biggest-scale festival yet
for the group as there will be 70,000 audience members attending, and
they will be the first female artist to hold a solo live concert at the
venue.

Takahashi Minami happily commented, “I think it will lead us to open up a new state. This year, the 48 groups will run at full speed!”

Idol unit Party Rockets has revealed the short PV for their upcoming single, “MIRAIE“.
Party Rockets’ 2nd single was written by rock band Mr.Big vocalist Eric Martin. It will be released on February 27th.

NMB48 has revealed the jacket covers for their first album, “Teppen Tottande!” (February 27th release).

The jacket covers for Type N, M, and B were shot on January 18th in front of NHK Hall in Shibuya, where the ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen‘ is held every year. After the shoot, the girls held a press conference and Yamamoto Sayaka commented on their sister group SKE48’s first independent appearance on the ‘Kohaku’. ”We were envious and we were also disappointed that we couldn’t make an appearance.”

She then declared, “This year, we want to independently stand on the stage at ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen’ with confidence.”

As mentioned earlier, Shinhwa will be holding a concert in honor of their 15th anniversary this March! To hype up anticipation for the upcoming event, the group has unveiled a video teaser featuring scenes from their previous concerts.

The group had promised a comeback and a concert, and they are keeping that promise by holding their new concert on March 16th and 17th at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Bangidong, Seoul, ahead of their April comeback.

Y-STAR‘s ‘Live Star News‘ showed footage of Kim Tae Hee visiting a hanbok store for her upcoming drama ‘Jang Ok Jung, Living in Love‘. Because she would be playing a Joseon
fashion designer, Kim Tae Hee was fitted into the clothes she would be
wearing on screen and checked over all the sizes herself.

The store employee commented, “Kim Tae Hee tried everything on
and [decided on] what was the prettiest for [the drama character's]
concept. She was very pretty.”

Even though the press surprised her, she never lost her smile in
front of the cameras. However, when a reporter asked her about Rain, she
showed surprise and left quickly.

In celebration of his birthday on January 21, Shinhwa’s Andy held a special concert where he revealed a new song with 100 %.

Happy Andy’s Day! Talk Concert was held on January 20, where Andy celebrated his birthday with fans as well as the 100 % members. Together, Andy and Rok Hyun and Min Woo sang You and Me for the first time.

The music video, capturing all the fun moments of the talk concert, was revealed on January 29.

KBS2′s School 2013
finally met its conclusion, bringing back old memories and leaving
behind lingering emotions in its wake. It drew out for all to see how
cold classrooms of the present could be, and delved into the reason it
had become harder for teenagers and the older generation to mix.

Realistic stories

The drama first drew issues for
being relatable with its realistic content. It wasn′t all fantasy,
meaning it appealed to students, parents and teachers alike.

It
conveyed why students can′t help but become more delinquent, why they′re
starting to feel less and less emotions, why students can′t seem to
reach the heart of the school and what duties parents must carry out
within their families. It let viewers look back on themselves, and set
right what they saw of themselves in the drama.

The delinquent Oh
Jung Ho (Kwak Jung Wook) especially showed how he had come to be a
delinquent not because of his own problems, but because of changed
values on the older generation′s part. He showed that students like
himself came into being when society started to chuck out those who fell
behind and lined every kid up based on a small set of numbers.

The
answer was in the adults. The drama emphasized that it was up to the
adults to put together healthy families and show their responsibility.
Parents are supposed to be in charge of bringing up their children to be
kind people. Teachers aren′t supposed to be responsible for making
students strong enough to survive in the harsh exam wars, but for
building a school that students who have been shunned by their families
can turn to.

Jung
Yong Hwa started acting before his debut, and last year Lee Jong Hyun,
Kang Min Hyuk and Lee Jung Shin joined the singer-turned-actor ranks.
Lee Jong Hyun appeared as Collin in the popular SBS drama A Gentleman′s Dignity, Kang Min Hyuk appeared in KBS2′s Unexpected You and Lee Jung Shin is currently starring in KBS2′s My Daughter Seo Young.

The
trio received favorable reviews for their acting, expressing their
characters so well that some viewers even mistook them to be
professional actors instead of rookies from a band. Their good looks
also helped them garner even more love from their viewers.

Lee Jong Hyun said, "I couldn′t believe my luck. I learned about life
through acting. I was busy enough with music, so I kept being stubborn
and said I didn′t have time to take up acting also. I think I was making
up excuses because I wasn′t courageous enough. Now, I think I′ll be
able to see the world with a more relaxed view."

Lee Jung Shin
said, "I′ve become more confident through the drama. Confidence really
leaves its marks when you′re onstage. We toured Japan in a tour that
drew over 100,000 people while I was filming the drama. I became really
busy, but I think I was able to express myself better thanks to my
acting feats."

Lee Jong Hyun added, "[Lee] Jung Shin changed the
most. Only a few people know how hard it is to film a drama and perform
in concerts at the same time. Still, he got everything done without
complaint. I felt he had become very mature, and I thought it was great.
I wonder if he knows how we feel (Laugh)."

Lee Jung Shin explained, "It′s not that, it′s just that I made gestures thinking that I should be of help too (Laugh). I became sorry with the thought that I hadn′t done much onstage up to now."

Lee
Jong Hyun continued, "Also, the way I express myself onstage has
changed after I started acting. Our role is to help the front man
(vocalist) [Jung] Yong Hwa hyung (big brother) shine, but it was
stupid of me not to take up acting, as I′ve realized that the bigger we
get, the brighter the vocalist shines, and the bigger CN Blue becomes."

Let′s turn back time about three years. Like now, the K-Pop scene
of 2010 had been overridden by idol music, and their music was the
mainstream, reigning above all other genres.

The four-member band
CN Blue, however, made an entrance and changed the direction of the
market. This band, comprised of a vocalist, guitarist, bassist and
drummer, was an anomaly in the eyes of the younger generation at the
time.

Thankfully, the band was able to draw interest thanks to its
interesting resume. Jung Yong Hwa, who had appeared as band member Kang
Shin Woo in SBS′ You′re Beautiful, turned out to be the
leader of a real band, and the band had also debuted in the Japanese
indie scene before it made a major debut in Korea.

It took a
while for their music to be acknowledged. The band was first hindered by
its members′ flower boy looks and the limits music shows in Korea had
in letting them play their own instruments live.

Their sincerity toward their music was even passed up when their debut single I′m a Loner, written by Kim Do Hoon, became caught in plagiarism claims.

CN
Blue, however, never stopped trying to persuade the public through its
music. Since its debut in 2010, it released a studio album, four mini
albums, including its most recent fourth mini album Re:BLUE, a special album and its brand song Friday.

Jung
Yong Hwa wrote lyrics and songs for every album, and member Lee Jong
Hyun also helped perfect CN Blue′s brand of music. Doubts on whether
they could play their instruments well were quieted through many
performances held inside and outside the country.

The four members enews
recently met at FNC′s new office in Cheongdam were completely different
from the boys they used to be. They were more confident, and gave off a
brighter energy. They wouldn′t stop smiling when they were led to talk
about their music, and their eyes shone. The members opened up on the
three biggest changes that had hit them in their four years with band
music.